I received this message from a woman seeking help with her VCH piercing.

Hi Elayne I am in urgent need of some help!!! I had a vertical hood piercing done in Australia back in November 2009. I haven't had any problems with it until about 3 wks ago when it sometimes became tender to touch. It's not tender all the time. mainly in the morning after getting out of bed. So i just put it down to abit of twisting or pulling during the night. It was only tender for about 2 weeks then nothing for the last week.

Then this morning i noticed that there seems to be a piece of skin missing on my hood so that i can now see straight through to the barbell (which is a straight 12 gauge bar). There is no discharge or smell and it is not sore to touch at all. I have contacted the piercer who performed the VCH and they seem disinterested in my problem but i am quite worried about it as it doesn't seem normal to me. I did go to a well known, qualified piercer who has her masters degree in piercing. I have attached some photos for you to have a look at and any suggestions you might have on what is happening and what i should do would be greatly appreciated. Cheers

I know you are unlikely to travel to New Zealand so I went ahead and had a vch piercing performed locally. I thought I had asked the piercer all the right questions but I suspect he has got it wrong. I couldn't find anyone at all who uses a receiving tube but found someone who doesn't use clamps. Thought I was doing the right thing. At the moment I have a 12g ring with captive ball. It has healed well but there is now skin and flesh behind the ring. What should I do? I have a friend who is prepared to redo it for me - what are the risks? She has a copy of your book :) E

Hi E.,

Before doing anything else, I'd suggest you get her to lend you the book so that you can become well educated.

I'm not sure what you mean by "there is skin and flesh behind the ring"--can you send a clear, close-up photo or two so I can evaluate your current placement. What makes you think it is placed incorrectly?

If you think yours is improperly placed, that would be a reason to redo it. But if your friend is not a trained professional piercer, I HIGHLY advise against having her pierce you--even if she has a copy of my book (it is not a "how-to-pierce" book!).Elayne